The Washington critic., 1887-02-15
AT THE THEATRES.
NE NArIoNAL-wlIsoN nAnnErr.

the NATGoSAL-wusoN BARRETT.
III enthusiastic appreciation, repeated re-
calls and genuine applause count for any
thing, Mr.. Wilson Barrett may consider his
first appearance in Washington an eminent
and comforting success. The play was
"Claudian,n which, as well as the actor and
Ills company, Il new, and It's merits are
scarcely second to those Of the actor. 10 Is
OF the BJ zantne school, so to speak, and
abounds In splendid scenery, strong lights
and shadows, powerful effects aud anti
thetlcal emotions. Mr.. Barretts CidWiidn
is not clothed with that distinctive genius
which makes a character immortal but
there is In bis work the strokes which leave
The imprint OF greatness. Miss Eastlake
lost her identity In the character Of Ilnidd,
and made her devotion to Ct1Udidn a poem
as sweet as 1t was sorrowful. The support
was good In the main. A few whiskered
puns In the little scene between Betlos and
the soldiers and his prospective father-in-
law are scarcely Of the Byzantine epoch,
ante-dating that period probably 1,2OO
years. The mechanical effects were excel
lent, the thunder and lightning and earth
quake being quite like the natural thing,
Mr.. Barrett made speech on his fourth re-
call at the end OF the prologue, In which he
excused his hoarseness, and said "nice
clever fellow" one Of our fellow-towns-
around. There was big house and n
sympathetic one. Again tonight.
Observation-Disclosures
"ErminieY Erminiefn You ask what II
isf It's a musical melange, whimsical
whizz, a collection OF songs, of Jokes and
OF chafI, whose object in life is to make
the world laugh. There's dancing and
marching with bowng AMI whirls,
and II stage full of graceful, good
looking giIls, whose dresses are built
In the usual way, above and below
quite dccolete. There's a plot that Is
iuhnyi with little horse play, some sceulc
effects in soft pink aud gray; there is
art, there Is Iatlire. there Is beauty, there's
charm. aud nowhere at all can you find
any harm; ltceuse, as we've said, the play
is hut Il oil to nourish the liver aud make
1t act good a house full of people who
saw 1t last night, went home at eleven en-
tranccd by the sight, and we know they are
giving II to us right straight, when they
tell us in confidence that "Erninie'sn
great. Again tonight.
THE p1ME--'CoILARs AND CuFFs.n
There was hardly room In the Dime Mt
scum last night for the persons anxious to
laugh at the absuruity, "Collars and Cuffs"
With Charles Gilday In the cast, the play
was given with vim and dash, and, while It
would hardly bear criticism, makes every
one laugh, and laugh loud and long.
'Laugb, and tie world laughs with you,n
and that's what "Collars and Cuirs" is h,re
for. Again tonight.
THE BIJou-"EsCAPED FROM SING 81 iG.n
Dominick Murray, the well-known actor,
drew large crowd to the Biiou last nj sht.
ESCAPED From Sing sirgn has many in
teresting situations and they were all taken
advantage OF. The excitement never re.
lakes, and the play to the end rIvets the at
tention and absorbs the interest The
st9ge-setting is good, and the good audi
ence Of last night will probably be repeated
throughout the week. Two performances
daily. Box-oillce open from a. IN. to II
p. IN.
KERNAN's.-GUs HILLS NOVELTIES.
Kernan's was packed last night to wei.
come Gus Hills "World Of Novelties" and
the audience was well paid for tramping
| through the rain. Gus Hill himself needs
no introduction, nor does the pretty little
sopgstress, Miss Dollie Foster. The
Nidocqs, John and Edna, had laughable
sketch which put the audience in good
humor with itself and they gave warm re-
cep,ion to Weber and Fields, "Two Skull
| Cracker" The wire rope walking and the
trapeze act were good, but the hit Of the
evening was made by Nat Haines and Will
| Vidocq. The performance closed with the
! -than-usual afterpiecc, "Two Old
| Sports" Again tonight.